Estonia Backs Kosovo's EU and NATO Accession

Estonia firmly supports the Balkan state of Kosovo on its path to membership in the European Union, NATO, and other major international organizations, Estonian leaders - President Alar Karis and Prime Minister Kaya Kallas - stated during a visit to Estonia by the Speaker of the Kosovo Parliament, Glauk Konjufca, ERR reports.

"Estonia supports Kosovo on its path to the EU and NATO; we want to expand the zone of peace. Security in the Western Balkans is important for Europe. We are grateful to Kosovo for its efforts to strengthen stability in the region through dialogue and diplomacy," wrote the President of Estonia on Twitter.

Prime Minister Kaya Kallas echoed President Alar Karis's sentiments. She specifically noted that Estonia is always ready to share its own reform experience.

"Estonia fully supports Kosovo's efforts on the path to the EU and NATO. We are always ready to share our reform experience," wrote Kaya Kallas on Twitter.

Lauri Husar, the Speaker of the Estonian Parliament, also confirmed Estonia's support for Kosovo in its aspirations to become a member of the EU and other international organizations. He noted that relations between Estonia and Kosovo are becoming increasingly close and expressed satisfaction with the introduction of a visa-free regime between Kosovo and the EU.

In turn, the Speaker of the Kosovo Parliament, Glauk Konjufca, thanked the Estonian state and people for their strong support of Kosovo and noted that Estonia was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of this Balkan state back in 2008.

The Gaze previously reported that at the beginning of 2024, residents of the partially recognized state of Kosovo were granted the opportunity to travel to European Union countries without visas.

Kosovo began working on fulfilling nearly a hundred criteria necessary for obtaining visa-free travel with the EU as early as 2012. Although the European Commission officially recognized the fulfilment of these criteria in 2018, the political decision on visa-free travel was repeatedly postponed.

Resistance from France and the Netherlands, which feared potential new waves of migration, as well as the position of five other EU member states - Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Romania, and Slovakia - which did not recognize Kosovo's independence from Serbia, were among the reasons for these delays.